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Erik
Erik was a deformed man who attempted to haunt the Parisian Opera House under the guise of "The Phantom of the Opera". Early Life Erik was born in a small town outside of Rouen, France, but unfortunately, he was born with a hideous disfigurement. He had a corpse-like appearance, with no nose, sunken eyes and cheeks, yellow, parchment-like skin, and only a few wisps of ink-black hair covering his head. He is often described as "a walking skeleton" with a cold touch. His mother, unable to bear his appearance, abandoned him at a young age, while his father, a master mason, never even met him. As a boy, Erik ran away and fell in with a band of Gypsies, making his living as an attraction in freak shows, where he is known as "le mort vivant" ("the living death"). During his time with the tribe, Erik became a great illusionist, magician, and ventriloquist. His reputation for these skills and his unearthly singing voice spread quickly, and one day a fur trader mentioned him to the Shah of Persia. The Shah ordered the Persian to fetch Erik and bring him to the palace. The Shah-in-Shah commissioned Erik, who proves himself a gifted architect, to construct an elaborate palace, Mazenderan. The edifice was designed with so many trap doors and secret rooms that not even the slightest whisper could be considered private. The design itself carried sound to a myriad hidden locations, so that one never knew who might be listening. At some point under the Shah's employment, Erik was also a political assassin, using a unique noose referred to as the Punjab Lasso. The Shah, pleased with Erik's work and determined that no one else should have such a palace, ordered Erik blinded. Thinking that Erik could still make another palace even without his eyesight, the Shah later ordered Erik's execution. It was only by the intervention of the daroga (the Persian) that Erik escapes. Erik then went on to Constantinople and was employed by its ruler, helping build certain edifices in the Yildiz-Kiosk, among other things. However, he had to leave the city for the same reason he left Mazenderan: he knew too much. He also seemed to have traveled to Southeast Asia, since he claimed to have learned to breathe underwater using a hollow reed from the "Tonkin pirates". By this time Erik was tired of his nomadic life and wanted to "live like everybody else". For a time he worked as a contractor, building "ordinary houses with ordinary bricks". He eventually bid on a contract to help with the construction of the Palais Garnier, commonly known as the Paris Opéra. Le Fantome de l'Opera During the construction he was able to make a sort of playground for himself within the Opera House, creating trapdoors and secret passageways throughout every inch of the theatre. He even built himself a house in the cellars of the Opera where he could live far from man's cruelty. Erik also spent twenty years composing a piece entitled Don Juan Triumphant. Category:People Category:Pages Category:Rogue's Gallery Category:French People